Butterfly Keeper // h.s. au

Chapter Forty Six

"H-Harry, I-... How could you do this? W-what have you done?"

    He's completely unrecognizable, the Harry I thought I knew becoming completely obliterated. Perhaps he never existed at all.

    His eyes are bloodshot, the green of his irises standing out like flashing lights against the color. But then again everything is red, his swollen lips, his wide eyes and fingers all tucked in towards his palms. He looks at me like I'm an object rather than the person he used to whisper, "Mine," to while his arms were wrapped around my waist. Maybe he's lost sight of who I am too.

    "The man in the tub, L-Liam, he's dead. He's dead Harry, did you do that?" I croak out, my hands shaking profusely as I point a ghostly finger at the bleeding figure in the tub.

    His reddenned eyes don't leave my figure, looking more through me than at me. I watch his chest rise and fall at a faster pace than normal, as if a gear in his chest has been knocked out of place. I can't take him just standing there like that, looking at me as I hide in the corner like a helpless, frightened, animal.

    "Did you?!" I yelp and startle him, causing his pupils to dilate as he finally looks at me, his features quickly contorting as he watches my body quiver in fear.

    Something changes in his eyes, a light switch going off in his brain as he trails his gaze over to the lifeless body in the tub. His shoulders go slack as he brings both his hands up to a praying position with his index fingers pressed firmly against his lips. I can almost see his heartbeat accelerate through the cover of his bloodied shirt as he runs his dampened curls back from his face.

    "Let me explain," He manages in a painful rasp, surveying me once more with something new settling into his features, panic.

    "You're a murder Harry! You killed someone- You killed my professor! There's no c-coming back from this." I gasp in full realization, moisture filling my eyes as I look up at him in disbelief.

    "No, just listen. It's not my fault Charlotte, you just have to listen. I've come back from this before, I-"

    "Before?" I cry out, my voice echoing through the bathroom.

    "No, no- I'm telling you, I can explain! You weren't supposed to be here, if you had just waited- I never meant to scare you, just let me explain and fix everything!" He attempts, his hands still knotting in his hair with the rapid motion of his chest rising and falling.

    He takes a step towards me to be halted by my high pitched scream. I hold my hands out in front of me to shield him away, a trembling picture of weakness with my arms shaking and tears staining my cheeks.

    "Don't come a step closer!" I warn shakily, tears obstructing my vision as my worst nightmare peers at me with hurt in his eyes.

    "I would never hurt you Charlotte, never. Please, just let me take care of you and fix all this."

He puts a shaking hand on his heart while he speaks, his busted lips in a frown as he looks at me and waits for my response. I could never believe him, knowing now that his intentions are only to do evil. The man I knew is gone, left, disappeared and never to return. The stranger that proceeds to take another step towards me is the most frightening thing I've ever seen, because he resembles everything I love most.

As he takes another step my only choice is to throw my bag with what little force I can muster into his face, catching him off guard for a mere second. He emits a throaty grunt with my attack as I frantically shove past him and stumble into the kitchen.

My adrenaline and fright boost my steps as I run past the table Harry's laptop sits on and accidently catch my side on the rectangular corner of the island, pain shooting up my side with a gasp as I force myself to recover and limp into the living room.

    Just as my feet take me past the couch I come upon a whining Meshka, appearing as a beacon of hope through the haze of the screen door with her large blue eyes measuring me in confusion. I go to say her name, wanting to tell her It's okay and that everything will be fine. I know the words are meant for myself in all reality, It's what I need to hear to get out of here. So I repeat them in my head as my cold, clammy, palms gasp the metal handle of the screen door.

Suddenly a pair of bloodstained hands grab my waist with indomitable force, yanking me from my exit that had been only steps away. Meshka vanishes along with all my hopes of escape, my distress rising as the scream of my voice alarms through the house.

    I'm roughly dragged down in Harry's arms with his blood matted curls tickling my cheeks. He locks his arms tight around my flailing body, the both of us on the floor now as he clamps his hand down over my mouth.

I breathe raggedly as my eyes twitch across the room like the caged, frightened, animals you see in movies that are about to be put down. I feel myself grow weak, my muscles being drained of their strength as Harry obstructs my breathing with his hand. It smells so strong of blood that I feel my gag reflex resurging for another round.

I stir the urge to fight and the will to live until my body is nothing but that of a fragile goldfish, limping for air with it's last ounce of strength. He shushes me, his arms tightening when I buck in his hold. I want to fighter harder and use my distress to overpower him, but as black slowly begins trickling into my vision and the room begins spinning on a pinwheel, I know this is it.

"I'm so sorry, Charlotte," he rasps out with a voice full of tangled emotion.

I know it's only a ruse to make me believe he actually has feelings concerning the terrible things he's doing. He's not sorry. He never was.

"I just need you to listen and all this will finally make sense... I know you'll understand if I- once I..."

His lie of a gentle, broken, tone becomes murky as I feel my head limp into the crook of his arm, using my final bit of fight to attempt keeping it upright. My hand weakly paws at his bicep to no prevail, the muscle tightening under my touch.

"I promise I'll fix this," He whispers out, his accented tone quavering. "I'll fix everything."

My lungs burn as if fires lie flickering in their depths with my chest having the weight of the ocean caving in on its surface. His words are all I can discern in this last pitiful moment, even as they're the last thing on earth I want to hear.

    He curses under his breath, his labored respire fanning onto my scalp as I feel Harry's chest inhale deeply below me.

    "I love you, C," He murmurs in a disheartened whisper, his lips gently kissing the top of my head before adding ever so quietly, "Please don't hate me."

    That is when my world goes black.